Palestinian leader and co-founder of the nationalist party Fata
1935 CE
to 1988 CE
Khalil Ibrahim al-Wazir (also known by his kunya Abu Jihad—"Jihad's Father"; October 10, 1935 – April 16, 1988) is a Palestinian leader and co-founder of the nationalist party Fatah.
As a top aide of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat, al-Wazir has considerable influence in Fatah's military activities, eventually becoming the commander of Fatah's armed wing al-Assifa.
Al-Wazir becsme a refugee when his family was expelled from Ramla during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and began leading a minor fedayeen force in the Gaza Strip.
In the early 1960s he establishes connections for Fatah with Communist regimes and prominent third-world leaders.
He opens Fatah's first bureau in Algeria.
He plays an important role in the 1970–71 Black September clashes in Jordan, by supplying besieged Palestinian fighters with weapons and aid.
Following the PLO's defeat by the Jordanian Army, al-Wazir joins the PLO in Lebanon.
Prior to and during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, al-Wazir plans numerous attacks inside Israel against both civilian and military targets.
He prepares Beirut's defense against incoming Israeli forces.
Nonetheless, the Israeli military prevails and al-Wazir is exiled from Lebanon with the rest of the Fatah leadership.
He settles in Amman for a two-year period and is then exiled to Tunis in 1986
From his base there, he starts to organize youth committees in the Palestinian territories; these eventually form a major component of the Palestinian forces in the First Intifada.
However, he does not live to command the uprising.
On 16 April 1988, he is assassinated at his home in Tunis by Israeli commandos.
